Judith Proctor's Journal

Yes, we've decided to do it again. (Hurrah!)

We're going to celebrate our silver wedding yet again.  We're also celebrating Richard's birthday a couple of days early, and offering my husband and sons a chance to buy me a very belated present for my October birthday (see my user info page...).

We are therefore inviting anyone who would like to come along to come and join us for a long weekend of gaming and generally hanging out with a mixture of interesting people.  Food will all be provided by us.  (If you have a specialised diet, you may need to being some stuff)

The dates are 28-31 May.  The venue is our house in Dorset (just ask, if you don't know the address)

The nearest station is Poole.  There's a bus service from Poole to close to our house.  (Number 3, runs twice an hour, get off at 'Corfe Mullen Library', more details of navigating to/from bus stop available on request.)

There will be LOTS of board games and card games to play.

There's an inflatable double bed which goes to the first couple to ask for it. After that, it's bring a sleeping bag (we have a few spare, ask if you need one)

If you're a regular reader of this journal, then consider yourself invited.

Let me know if you want to come, so that we have an idea of numbers.  We seem to average 10-15 people.

I'm reposting this as we're getting closer to the date and I know a couple of people missed the original posting.  We've got several people down as definites now, and a large number of 'maybe's.

We're not quite sure what number this particular Silvercon should be as the numbering method is rather eclectic, but we feel 3.something is about right, so the next one will be Silvercon pi.

This event is being held to celebrate the Silver Wedding (plus a few bonus years and months) of myself and Waveney.  It's also the first weekend after my nth birthday.

Everyone reading this journal is invited (you don't have to be on my friends list).

The date is 19-21 October 2007.  The place is our house in Dorset (address available on request if you don't already know it - you can get there by bus from Poole station).  The aim is to do as much gaming and general socialising as possible.  The price is a fiver which you can give us when you arrive (this includes free floor space and all food for the weekend).

The first few people to arrive get the limited number of spare beds (but anyone with back/knee/whatever problems that benefit from a bed can put in a request to have a bad saved for them) - after that it's floor space.  We have a fair number of sleeping bags for people who can't bring their own - just ask in advance to be sure we have enough.

Let us know if you want to come!

You can make up your mind at pretty much the last minute if necessary, but we need a rough idea for catering purposes.  Tell us if you have any particular food problems (at least half the food will be vegetarian, so don't worry on that score).

The last few events have been great fun.  Come along and enjoy the next one!

It's amazing how some things slip your memory over time. I've always known that I have a slight tendency to slip into a Northern accent or to use just a few Yorkshire-style phrases.

I'd vaguely assumed that I'd somehow acquired it from my father who went to school in Yorkshire. It was only this weekend that I remembered why it really happened...

Dave Spencer. I hadn't seen him in over 20 years. He walked through the door this weekend and apart from the grey hair it was as though he'd never been away. We were good friends for three years at university in Norwich. We were both members of the Games Society (where I met waveney) and we both hung out with our other friends in the computer room between lectures.

Dave was from Bradford, a Yorkshireman through and through. (He went home every other weekend to let his mother do his laundry...) It was he who reminded me what my mother had said: "How come you went to university in Norwich and came back with a Bradford accent?"

I still have bits of Dave's accent, and talking to him is bringing it all back again. How did I let this guy fall out of my life? How did I let my close circle of university friends fall out of contact? These were the friends who were at my wedding and I lost touch with all of them. Yes, I was tired with two small children, but is that a good enough excuse?

I'm more determined than ever to find the others. It may/may not be an impossible task, but I'm darn well going to try. Not least, because I had a magical weekend with Dave, and other old friends from Delenda est Carthago whom I hadn't seen for a decade, and my new brother-in-law and my sister, Gillian, and some newer friends like dougs and Graham (WINOLJ).

We're going to do this again and we're not going to wait for another wedding anniversary for an excuse. I predict Silvercon II in about six months... (I'll let Richard tell the joke about the correct name for a convention held to celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary. It was his pun, and I'm proud of it!)